British Eventing (BE) is the national governing body for the sport of eventing – a three-phase competition in which a competitor rides the same horse in the dressage, cross-country and showjumping phases – in Britain.
The responsibilities of BE include co-ordinating the calendar of affiliated events which take place each year and setting and maintaining the standards which fixtures must meet to be affiliated to BE. Some of these events will also be affiliated to the FEI, the international governing body for horse sport, if they run international classes.
British Eventing is a membership organisation with around 15,000 members, who pay an annual fee to join, with different categories of membership available such as full, owner, supporter and corporate memberships. Horses must be registered with BE to compete in affiliated events. Day ticket schemes allow riders and horses to try BE competitions without paying the full membership and registration costs.
BE is run by a non-executive board, whose members serve on a voluntary basis, and a team of full- and part-time paid staff who work either out of the headquarters near Kenilworth, Warwickshire, or regionally in the field. The chief executive is Jude Matthews. Hundreds of volunteers are also needed to run events, in roles such as dressage writers, cross-country fence judges and showjumping arena party.
Affiliated eventing in Britain was run by the British Horse Society until 1997, when the British Horse Trials Association (BHTA) was set up as an independent body. The organisation changed its name to British Eventing in 2001. Eventing is still sometimes known as horse trials.
BE is a member body of British Equestrian (previously known as the British Equestrian Federation and still shortened to BEF), which brings together sport organisations such as BE and its equivalents in the other Olympic disciplines (British Dressage (BD) and British Showjumping (BS)) as well as non-Olympic sport federations, industry bodies such as the British Grooms Association and the British Equestrian Trade Association and charities such as World Horse Welfare, the Riding for the Disabled Association and the British Horse Society.
“After Dubonnet, I had got the bug, so we went off and searched the papers and found an advert for two four-year-olds in Devon...”
Cholmondeley Castle will host the 2021 British Eventing (BE) grassroots championships at BE80, BE90 and BE100 level
The new British Eventing chief executive has said her vision for the sport is to ‘unite together and thrive’
In 2010 Tim was presented with a BEF medal of honour in recognition of his outstanding achievement and contribution to the international equestrian world.
British Eventing’s rule change impacting reusable number bibs sparked widespread discussion and suggestions of possible solutions
“It’s not easy to sit on a horse like that; it can be a perception it’s a push-button kind of job but when you ride an animal of that power and that capability it can be quite intimidating to some people. As a young girl she coped amazingly well”
Two international eventing fixtures in May have been cancelled owing to continued uncertainty over the Covid-19 situation
“We don’t know what different restrictions or changes might be in place, but we know we can run a sport that’s socially distanced and Covid-safe”
A 33% reduction in horse falls has sparked questions, while British Eventing considers additional new safety measures
The organisers said they will plan towards a “bigger and better” 2022
“We understand our members cannot wait to get out eventing, and we are confident that with our protocols in place we will be able to resume sport quickly once Government guidance allows us to”
“It is incredibly disappointing to be entering a third lockdown and certainly not the start to the new year that anyone wanted”
The rider secured 27 wins and a further 46 top-10 placings during the 2020 season
“This is such an exciting development for the sport and one which we hope will provide more of our members with an inspiring goal”
